The Cinderella Syndrome
by LJD CI5
Summary: CI5 from a girlfriend's point of view..


The Cinderella Syndrome

CI5 from a girlfriend's perspective…

I looked at my watch; I'd been in his hospital room for three hours now, surrounded by flashing machines, keeping him alive. I knew it was going to be a long night…

The day couldn't have started more differently. I woke up wrapped in his arms; just where I wanted to be. I'd been seeing Ray Doyle for a few months and things were going well. Our relationship moved quickly at the beginning but it just felt so right; we felt like we were meant to be together.

The previous night had been a late one; drinks and dinner with Will Bodie and his wife Zoe. We double-dated a few times and had all become great friends.

As Ray was getting dressed, there was a knock at the door. Bodie was waiting for him, waiting to whisk him away from me to yet another emergency. Ray rolled his eyes apologetically at me: this wasn't first time he had been called away at short notice. He kissed me and in a second was gone. I heard the Capri's tyres screeching at Bodie's haste, then nothing but silence.

I looked round his flat. He wasn't here but his presence was everywhere; the book he was reading still open on his bedside table, the half empty coffee cup on the drainer and the scent of his sandalwood aftershave that filled the air.

His phone rang just as I was about to leave. Unsure as to whether to answer it, I picked up the receiver… it was Bodie.

I don't remember the journey to the hospital, just the sight of Bodie meeting me covered in blood; his blood. I tried to remain calm but the sight of red was all that I could think about.

Bodie told me that they had been called to a hostage situation. Typical of Ray he was in the thick of it, trying to negotiate with the kidnapper. Suddenly a little girl broke free from the bystanders. Ray grabbed her and the kidnapper shot him in the chest, the bullet missing his heart by a couple of inches. He was still in theatre.

I couldn't be consoled, my mind too much on my boyfriend and whether I would see him again. Mr Cowley, the head of CI5 had also arrived by then, just as concerned as the rest of us as to the condition of his operative.

Just then the doctor informed us that Ray was out of theatre: the operation had gone well and we could see him for a few minutes. The sight of him lying there, hooked up to so many machines was too much for me. I felt the tears flow down my cheeks, the shock of the situation finally hitting me. Two hands rested on my shoulders, that of Cowley and Bodie. I sat next to Ray, taking his hand in mine. He looked so pale, so vulnerable, just like a little boy. He was warm to the touch but so lifeless, the only noise emanating from the multiple machines attached to his body. I willed him to wake up, to squeeze my hand and open his eyes. I was determined to stay with him, so I would be there when he woke up; if he woke up..

As time past my mind wandered back to when we first met. I remember him warning me about his job, the lousy hours and the last minute call-outs. He wasn't wrong but it was something I had accepted as a necessary evil of sharing my life with Ray.

I recalled a conversation Zoe had with me about 'the Squad'. She said there were countless occasions, usually when she and Bodie were on a date or in the middle of dinner, when he was called away at short notice. Even though she also worked for CI5, it still took some getting used to. She referred to it as 'the Cinderella Syndrome': being left on your own while your 'Prince Charming' was called away. I remember laughing at the analogy at the time but looking back, I realised how right she was. I was slowing beginning to realise that when you decided to share your life with a CI5 agent, you also had to share him with the job.

Bodie, Zoe and Cowley returned with Bodie handing me a welcomed hot coffee. Thankfully he had changed his clothes. There had been no change in Ray's condition which was beginning to be a worry for the medical staff. As a distraction Cowley chatted to me about Ray; telling me of his first meeting with the young, disillusioned copper and how he had seen him flourish in the squad. Cowley certainly didn't seem like the tyrant that Ray and Bodie had described…

Time passed and I was left on my own again with my love. Desperation crept in and I started to will him to wake up, or at least give me some indication that he was improving. The thought of being on my own terrified me and it was at exactly that time I realised how much I loved that curly-haired artist lying in the hospital bed next to me. I couldn't imagine my life without him. All I wanted was for him to wake up so that I could tell him.

I stood up and stroked his hair away from his face, kissing his forehead. Just at that moment he opened his eyes and smiled at me. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Smiling through tears I kissed him softly and told him that I loved him. He loved me too; that I was sure of.

At last it looked as though our luck had changed; no longer was I Cinderella as my Prince Charming had returned to fulfil my Happily Ever After…..

2


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